Oscar Piastri issued a hilarious response on his team radio after coming close to a bizarre accident with Alpine, his former team, at the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Piastri was chasing McLaren teammate Lando Norris for the lead on Lap 55 when he attempted to overtake traffic out of Turn 3, but Franco Colapinto in the Alpine -- battling Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda -- did not see the Australian coming and forced him into an avoiding maneuver onto the grass.
Piastri, who was involved in one of Formula 1's most controversial transfer sagas when he left the Alpine junior ranks to join McLaren three years ago, was far from happy afterward and, in an unbroadcasted radio message, said: "Alpine still manages to find a way to f--- me over all these years later, huh."
The 24-year-old eventually finished second behind Norris, dropping his title advantage to 15 points.
Piastri's journey from highly rated junior to a title favorite has been far from conventional. Piastri became a member of the Renault, and then Alpine, academy in January 2020, and in July 2022, the team announced him as one of its Formula 1 drivers for the following season.
Piastri, however, denied he had ever signed a contract -- which was proved by the FIA's contract recognition board -- and instead agreed to a deal with McLaren. Piastri cited a breakdown in trust with the team and said the way he was dealt with by Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer was "bizarre and upsetting."
As for Sunday's incident, Colapinto was handed a five-second time penalty for his role and a penalty point.
"I just didn't see him," he said. "He was in my blind spot and I was focused on Tsunoda. I really wanted to get past."
